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תקנות פון בלאג: יעדער קען שרייבען תגובות, אבער נישט קיין ניבול פה, באליידיגען אדער סטראשענען, ווער עס וועט נישט איינהאלטען די תקנות וועט מען חוסם זיין..Rules of the Blog: Everybody is welcome to write comments, however no vulgar language, insults or threats will be tolerated, you will be banned immediatelyDo NOT keep changing your Nick when writing comments, I can recognize you and will ban youIf you are aware of any molestation in the Jewish community, please report it to the proper authorities, and then please send us an emil with as many details as possible, so we can follow up and warn the TziburThis Blog is here for a purpose - to fight pedophilia and znus, not for snide remarks, filthy comments or threats

One of the two teenage
boys who accused a Teaneck rabbi
of molesting him at his home had made false accusations of sexual abuse against
his own father, the rabbi’s attorney told a judge in Hackensack on Tuesday.

Bergen County prosecutors,
meanwhile, disclosed that Rabbi Uzi Rivlin, who is set for trial next month on
child sexual-assault charges, was accused years ago of another sexual assault
in New York and later pleaded guilty to public lewdness.

The hearing
in state Superior Court offered a glimpse into the complexities of Rivlin’s
upcoming trial, in which he is accused of molesting two 13-year-old Israeli
boys at his home in 2009 and 2010. Rivlin has maintained his innocence, telling
authorities that his accusers were troubled teens and that he did nothing to
them.

The alleged
victims, who were staying at Rivlin’s home for the summer as part of a
scholarship fund run by Rivlin, made the accusations separately to Israeli
authorities after they returned to their country, Bergen County prosecutors
said.

The two boys
will be among five witnesses who will be flown in from Israel to testify at the
trial in Hackensack.

Rivlin’s
attorney, Howard Simmons, said at the hearing Tuesday that he intends to call
witnesses and present documents to show one of the alleged victims told police
that his father sexually abused him.

“But
those allegations turned out to be unfounded,” Simmons said.

Rivlin, 65,
who was released on bail shortly after his arrest, attended the hearing, using
a Hebrew interpreter.

Simmons also
told Judge Patrick Roma that a teenage girl who stayed at Rivlin’s home for a
summer has made statements to authorities that the boy who is now making
accusations against Rivlin had himself tried to sexually assault her at
Rivlin’s home.

How much of
those statements will be admitted as evidence at Rivlin’s trial is a question
to be determined in pretrial hearings, said Demetra Agriantonis Maurice, an
assistant Bergen County
prosecutor.

Maurice also
told Roma that in a separate case, Rivlin was arrested in 2000 in New York City
and charged with sexual assault, child endangerment and public lewdness. He
later pleaded guilty to public lewdness, a misdemeanor charge equivalent to New
Jersey’s disorderly-persons offense.

Simmons also
asked Roma to have Rivlin’s indictment dismissed, arguing that prosecutors did
not present sufficient evidence to the grand jury. All that was presented to
the grand jury was the testimony of a detective who answered “yes” or “yes,
that’s correct” to a series of leading questions, Simmons said.

Roma denied
Simmons’ request, saying the evidence presented to the grand jury was
sufficient for prosecutors to proceed with the case.

Prosecutors
need to present only enough evidence to a grand jury to show a prima facie —
“on its face” — case. That evidence is not subject to cross-examination during
grand jury presentation and does not need to pass the high evidentiary bar that
is set for criminal trials. Hearsay evidence, for instance, is not admissible
in a criminal trial, but can be presented to a grand jury to obtain an indictment,
leading to trial.

Rivlin, 65,
was a teacher at the Temple Beth Abraham in Tarrytown, N.Y., and also ran a
scholarship fund for more than 10 years for orphans and disadvantaged children
in Israel. Participants of the program would come to the United States for a
few months to stay with a host family and attend summer camp. Rivlin’s accusers
were staying at his home during two summers, in 2009 and 2010, authorities
said.

Israeli
authorities conducted an investigation after receiving the complaints and notified
the FBI, which then contacted local authorities, Bergen County prosecutors
said at the time. Rivlin was arrested in August 2011 after being interviewed by
detectives for nearly five hours.

A grand jury
in Bergen County indicted
him early last year on charges of child endangerment, aggravated sexual contact
and criminal sexual contact. The most serious of those charges carries up to 10
years in prison upon conviction, followed by lifelong parole.